Ryan Koss, 35, the driver charged in the death of actor Treat Williams, has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of negligent driving with death. The Vermont man, who knew Williams, was given a one-year deferred sentence and will also have his driver's license revoked for a year as part of his parole.
He also is obligated to complete a community restorative justice program on the misdemeanor charge. The fatal crash took place on June 12, 2023, when Koss was turning left into a parking lot and and collided with Williams' oncoming motorcycle. The Everwood and Hair actor was 71 when he died.
Koss, the managing creative director of the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont, knew Williams for years and considered him a friend. He immediately called the actor's wife after the crash to tell her what happened. The family's lawyer says that he has taken responsibility for the collision since the beginning, and he also openly confessed in court. “I’m here to apologize and take responsibility for this tragic accident,” he said.
The family decided not to press charges and didn't want Koss to go to prison. “I do forgive you, and I hope that you forgive yourself,” Gill Williams, the actor's son, said, adding, “I really wish you hadn’t killed my father. I really had to say that.”
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The actor's wife and daughter, who did not attend the court hearing, also spoke out. “Our lives will never be the same, our family has been torn apart and there is a huge hole that can’t possibly be filled,” Pam Williams wrote. Ellie Williams, Treat's daughter, says that she cannot forgive Koss at the time but hopes to one day. “I will never get to feel my father’s hug again; be able to get his advice again, introduce him to my future husband, have him walk me down the aisle, introduce him to my babies, and have him cry when I name my first son after him."
